Octogenarian Yohei Sasakawa has travelled to more than 90 countries across the globe; from areas of conflict, to the jungles of Brazil, shaking hands, hugging and washing the feet of Hansen’s disease-affected people. His message is simple: Stop stigmatisation and eliminate the disease.

Sasakawa, who has spent more than 40 years working towards elimination of Hansen’s disease, is the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairperson of The Nippon Foundation (TNF). Since 1975, TNF and its sister organisation, the Sasakawa Health Foundation (SHF), have contributed over USD200 million in financial support for the WHO’s Global Leprosy programme. Both foundations support elimination of the disease globally and provide information and awareness about the disease through the Leprosy Today website.

Sasakawa told IPS in an exclusive interview that he does not believe in sitting in “air-conditioned rooms” looking at data and making decisions about the elimination of the disease. “That will not be helpful to people. You must go to the actual site. That is why I travel across the world — even if it’s scorching deserts or the jungles of Brazil or areas that are difficult to reach or even areas that are dangerous.”

Sasakawa, who says that discrimination and stigmatisation against people affected by Hansen’s disease was the original human rights violation, advocated for this to be included in the United Nations human rights agenda.

Yohei Sasakawa, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairperson of The Nippon Foundation, has dedicated more than four decades towards eliminating Hansen’s disease and putting an end to the stigmatisation that people affected by the disease face globally. Courtesy: Sasakawa Health Foundation/The Nippon Foundation

In 2010, his efforts bore fruition when the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on elimination of discrimination against persons affected by leprosy and their family members and accompanying principle and guidelines was passed.

“If you look around us, there are multiple issues in front of us. When it comes to leprosy, people discriminating against people started in the age of the Old Testament. So it goes back a long time in our past history. So I think leprosy is the origin of human rights violation because of the fact that it started such a long time ago,” the recipient of the 2019 Order of the Rising Sun and 2018 Gandhi Peace Prize winner told IPS.

He said that 60 percent of the more than 210,000 new global leprosy cases for 2017 originated in India, adding that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a strong commitment to make 2030 the year of zero leprosy in the country.

Sasakawa is currently in Manila, Philippines, to attend the TNF/SHF-sponsored Global Forum of People’s Organisations on Hansen’s Disease, which is being held Sept. 7 to 10. He will also deliver a keynote address at the 20th International Leprosy Congress (ILC), which takes place Sept. 11 to 13.

Through his work Sasakawa has met more than 150 national leaders, including presidents and prime ministers, sharing his message and gaining their support and commitment to eliminate leprosy.

However, he stressed, that his efforts alone would not eliminate the disease and called on the youth to “take action in their own countries” and encouraged them to begin discussions for solutions on social media platforms.

YOHEI SASAKAWA, World Health Organization’s (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination and chairperson of The Nippon Foundation, speaks to IPS correspondent Stella Paul about his decades long campaign to achieve zero leprosy and eliminate stigmatisation of those affected.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/join-journey-eliminate-leprosy-ambassador/feed/0Why Prosecuting Human Traffickers in Nigeria is Nothing More than a Miragehttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/why-prosecuting-human-traffickers-nigeria-poor-prosecution-of-human-traffickers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-prosecuting-human-traffickers-nigeria-poor-prosecution-of-human-traffickers
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/why-prosecuting-human-traffickers-nigeria-poor-prosecution-of-human-traffickers/#respondMon, 09 Sep 2019 04:27:40 +0000Tobore Ovuoriehttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=163149In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to Lagos, Nigeria, to understand why the country's national agency against trafficking has only successfully prosecuted 339 offenders over the last 13 years.

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Riana Group.

In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to Lagos, Nigeria, to understand why the country's national agency against trafficking has only successfully prosecuted 339 offenders over the last 13 years.

This is part of a series of features from across the globe on human trafficking. IPS coverage is supported by the Riana Group.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/why-prosecuting-human-traffickers-nigeria-poor-prosecution-of-human-traffickers/feed/0A Global Forum to Encourage Dialogue and Share Solutionshttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/global-forum-encourage-dialogue-share-solutions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=global-forum-encourage-dialogue-share-solutions
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/global-forum-encourage-dialogue-share-solutions/#respondFri, 06 Sep 2019 02:20:49 +0000Stella Paulhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=163146Professor Takahiro Nanri is the executive director of the Sasakawa Health Foundation, co-organiser of the Global Forum of People’s Organisations on Hansen’s Disease, which will take place from Sept. 7 to 10 in the Philippines. A 4-day event, the forum will be the first of its kind to bring together grassroot organisations that are of, […]

Professor Takahiro Nanri is the executive director of the Sasakawa Health Foundation, co-organiser of the Global Forum of People’s Organisations on Hansen’s Disease, which will take place from Sept. 7 to 10 in the Philippines.

A 4-day event, the forum will be the first of its kind to bring together grassroot organisations that are of, by and for the people affected by leprosy across the world.

On the eve of the forum, IPS correspondent Stella Paul spoke with Nanri who shared in brief the rationale of the event and some of the expected outcomes.

The forum, he said, is entirely focused on bringing together all the leprosy-affected people’s organisations on one platform and give them an opportunity to share their experiences, especially the positive ones, so that they can inspire others to follow and start new collaborations.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/global-forum-encourage-dialogue-share-solutions/feed/0Exclusive: Winnie Byanyima Speaks about Inequality in Africa and Next Steps at UNAIDShttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/exclusive-winnie-byanyima-speaks-inequality-africa-next-steps-unaids/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=exclusive-winnie-byanyima-speaks-inequality-africa-next-steps-unaids
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/exclusive-winnie-byanyima-speaks-inequality-africa-next-steps-unaids/#respondThu, 05 Sep 2019 09:34:30 +0000Crystal Ordersonhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=163115In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to Cape Town, South Africa where Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam's outgoing director talks exclusively to IPS about taking up the post executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and about Oxfam's recent inequality report.

In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to Cape Town, South Africa where Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam's outgoing director talks exclusively to IPS about taking up the post executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and about Oxfam's recent inequality report.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/exclusive-winnie-byanyima-speaks-inequality-africa-next-steps-unaids/feed/0Eastern Caribbean Embarks on Strategy Towards a Blue-Green Economyhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/eastern-caribbean-embarks-strategy-towards-blue-green-economy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eastern-caribbean-embarks-strategy-towards-blue-green-economy
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/eastern-caribbean-embarks-strategy-towards-blue-green-economy/#respondTue, 03 Sep 2019 09:29:56 +0000Jewel Fraserhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=163077In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to the Caribbean where correspondent Jewel Fraser understands how micro, small and medium enterprises hold the key for build economies that are resilient to the impacts of climate change.

In this Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to the Caribbean where correspondent Jewel Fraser understands how micro, small and medium enterprises hold the key for build economies that are resilient to the impacts of climate change.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/09/eastern-caribbean-embarks-strategy-towards-blue-green-economy/feed/0How the African Development Bank Plans to Mobilise Funds for Climate Adaptationhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/african-development-bank-plans-mobilise-funds-climate-adaptation/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=african-development-bank-plans-mobilise-funds-climate-adaptation
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/african-development-bank-plans-mobilise-funds-climate-adaptation/#respondFri, 30 Aug 2019 07:49:20 +0000Isaiah Esipisuhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=163048In this first Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the 8th Climate Change and Development in Africa Conference is currently taking place.

In this first Voices from the Global South podcast, IPS takes you to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the 8th Climate Change and Development in Africa Conference is currently taking place.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/african-development-bank-plans-mobilise-funds-climate-adaptation/feed/0Hong Kong Protests: A Peaceful and Violent Weekendhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/hong-kong-protests-peaceful-violent-weekend/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hong-kong-protests-peaceful-violent-weekend
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/hong-kong-protests-peaceful-violent-weekend/#respondSat, 24 Aug 2019 18:28:01 +0000Laurel Chorhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162973As protests in Hong Kong continue over the weekend, thousands of people joined hands to form a human chain that stretched across the city on Friday. It was yet another demonstration – this one entirely peaceful – in a series of protests that have rocked the former British colony for the past 12 weeks. The […]

While standing to form the Hong Kong Way on Aug. 23, Protesters cover their right eye in reference to a woman who received a serious injury to her face, which was allegedly caused by police shooting a rubber bullet at her head. One woman (R) holds a sign urging the U.S. government to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which was introduced by Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ.) and Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL). Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

By Laurel ChorHONG KONG, Aug 24 2019 (IPS)

As protests in Hong Kong continue over the weekend, thousands of people joined hands to form a human chain that stretched across the city on Friday. It was yet another demonstration – this one entirely peaceful – in a series of protests that have rocked the former British colony for the past 12 weeks.

The “Hong Kong Way” protest was inspired by the 30th anniversary of the Baltic Way, a 600-km human chain formed across Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, which at the time were a part of the Soviet Union. Two million people stood hand-in-hand that day to protest Soviet rule.

Yesterday on Aug. 23, organisers estimated that 135,000 people participated in the Hong Kong version, which stretched 60 kilometres across both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Hundreds even made their way up the iconic Lion Rock Mountain, lighting up the peak with cell phone lights.

The human chain marked a shift in tone in the protests, which were often violent. Today, on Aug. 24 protestors reportedly hurled objects and gasoline bombs at police, with police firing tear gas in response.

The Hong Kong protests were sparked by a proposed extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent to China and possibly face an unjust trial system, making people fearful that Beijing would exploit the law for political reasons. The demonstrations have been further fuelled by anger towards the police for its excessive use of force and protesters’ key demands now include complete withdrawal of the proposed extradition bill, as well as genuine universal suffrage.

Earlier this month, two mainland Chinese men were held and beaten at the Hong Kong airport, where protests had disrupted flights for two days in a row. After the incidents, Beijing strongly condemned the protesters and compared the attacks to “terrorism”. On the other hand, organisations including Amnesty International and the United Nations have repeatedly criticised the Hong Kong Police Force for its violent methods to control the protests.

Mindful of public opinion, protesters took a decidedly more peaceful direction after those incidents. First, they apologised for the airport protests. Then, a peaceful march was organised last weekend, with an estimated 1.7 million attending, echoing two similar marches in June that had attracted one million, then two million a week later – an impressive feat in a city of only 7.4 million residents.

Organisers of the Hong Kong Way issued a statement highlighting Hong Kong protesters’ solidarity: “We are no longer divided into ‘peaceful’ or ‘frontline’ protesters – we are joined as one in our resolve to fight for our freedom.”

Protests were scheduled for the weekend and are set to continue for the rest of the month. The Hong Kong government has yet to meet with protesters and has not caved in on any of their demands, leading the city to wonder how its biggest political crisis will ever be resolved.

The Hong Kong protests were sparked by a proposed extradition bill that would allow suspects to be sent to China and possibly face an unjust trial system, making people fearful that Beijing would exploit the law for political reasons. This dated photo is from a protest rally last month. Courtesy: Studio Incendo/CC By 2.0

Standing in front of the famous Victoria Harbor on Aug. 23, protesters cover their right eye in reference to a woman who received a serious injury to her face, which was allegedly caused by police shooting a rubber bullet at her head, as they hold their cell phone lights in the other hand. Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

A protester hugs a stranger standing in Sham Shui Po on Aug. 23 as part of the Hong Kong Way, the participants of which included families with children. Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

Protesters stand in front of the Hong Kong Space Museum as part of the Hong Kong Way, a 60-kilometre human chain on Aug. 23. Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

Protesters – often not knowing those standing next to them – link up to form the Hong Kong Way in Sham Shui Po on Aug. 23, while chanting slogans encouraging Hong Kong protesters and demanding the “liberation” of the city. Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

Protesters forming the Hong Kong Way hold up their cell phone lights while standing on a busy road in Sham Shui Po, where double decker buses often passed through, on Aug. 23. Credit: Laurel Chor/IPS

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]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/hong-kong-protests-peaceful-violent-weekend/feed/0How Tibet has Successfully Reduced Povertyhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-successfully-reduced-poverty/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tibet-successfully-reduced-poverty
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-successfully-reduced-poverty/#respondThu, 22 Aug 2019 08:38:26 +0000Crystal Ordersonhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162940According to the Tibet’s Social Science Academy’s Institute of Rural Economic Studies, the number of Tibetans still living in poverty has been brought down from 850,000 a few years ago to 150,000. Tibetan officials say the government is committed to reducing that number to zero by the end of this year.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-successfully-reduced-poverty/feed/0How Tibet Doubled its Life Expectancyhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-doubled-life-expectancy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tibet-doubled-life-expectancy
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-doubled-life-expectancy/#respondMon, 19 Aug 2019 06:30:00 +0000Crystal Ordersonhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162891Tibet’s complicated typography means that the terrain is not easy for its people. Whilst the country is breathtaking, one incredible story about Tibet is that of the dramatic socio-economic changes the region has undergone.

Tibet’s complicated typography means that the terrain is not easy for its people. Whilst the country is breathtaking, one incredible story about Tibet is that of the dramatic socio-economic changes the region has undergone.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/tibet-doubled-life-expectancy/feed/0How India’s Indigenous Female Forest Dwellers Feel about Owning Their Own Landhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-female-forest-dwellers-feel-owning-land/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=indias-indigenous-female-forest-dwellers-feel-owning-land
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-female-forest-dwellers-feel-owning-land/#respondFri, 09 Aug 2019 16:41:43 +0000Stella Paulhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162810Kumaribai Jamkatan, 51, has been fighting for women’s land rights since 1987. Though the constitution of India grants equal rights to men and women, women first started to stake their claim for formal ownership of land only after 2005–the year the government accorded legal rights to daughters to be co-owners of family-owned land. For the […]

Kumaribai Jamkatan, 51, has been fighting for women’s land rights since 1987.
Though the constitution of India grants equal rights to men and women, women first started to stake their claim for formal ownership of land only after 2005–the year the government accorded legal rights to daughters to be co-owners of family-owned land.
For the Indigenous communities, it was the Forest Rights Act 2006 which allowed women to own land.
The struggle has been long and hard with social, financial and legal challenges, Jamkatan says.

“In the beginning, nobody even believed in the individual land rights of women. Some saw it as a huge work burden as the land is usually in the name of the patriarch of the family and granting ownership to women would mean distributing the land to individual family members.”
About 3,000 women are reported to have received land rights since local Indigenous villages in Gadchiroli district grouped together to assist one another.
Jamkatan is pursuing a personal goal of helping 1,000 women get land rights this year.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-female-forest-dwellers-feel-owning-land/feed/0India’s Indigenous Women Assert their Land Rightshttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-women-assert-land-rights/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=indias-indigenous-women-assert-land-rights
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-women-assert-land-rights/#respondFri, 09 Aug 2019 12:47:17 +0000Stella Paulhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162801On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, IPS correspondent Stella Paul speaks to Kumaribai Jamkatan, 51, one of the leaders who have been fighting for women’s land rights and Indigenous People's land rights since 1987.

Korchi a village of 3,256 people, most of whom are small and marginal farmers belonging to Gondi and Kawar indigenous communities, lies about 750 kilometres east of Mumbai, India. Here, women like Jam Bai, a 53-year-old indigenous farmer, have been leading a ground movement for years to own land.

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, IPS correspondent Stella Paul speaks to Kumaribai Jamkatan about what it means for Indigenous women to own their land. Paul joins Bai and several of women relatives and friends who have joined together to help Bai sow the saplings for her rice field.

On the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, IPS correspondent Stella Paul speaks to Kumaribai Jamkatan, 51, one of the leaders who have been fighting for women’s land rights and Indigenous People's land rights since 1987.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/indias-indigenous-women-assert-land-rights/feed/0International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2019http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/international-day-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=international-day-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2019
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/international-day-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2019/#respondWed, 07 Aug 2019 10:58:52 +0000IPS World Deskhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162747There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. They live in all geographic regions and represent 5000 different cultures. These people are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to others yet are being forced to give up their ways of life. In Latin America, […]

There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. They live in all geographic regions and represent 5000 different cultures. These people are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to others yet are being forced to give up their ways of life.

In Latin America, for example, 40% of all indigenous peoples now live in urban areas – they account for 80% of those populations in some countries. Globally, they represent 5% of the world’s population, yet account for 15% of all of those in poverty.

Indigenous people speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s 7000 languages. These languages are extensive and complex systems of knowledge that are central to their identity, their cultures, worldviews and expressions of self-determination.

Tragically, many indigenous languages are under threat, as we lose one of these languages every two weeks. According to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 230 languages went extinct between 1950 and 2010. Today, a third of the world’s languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left.

The 9th of August commemorates the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This year’s theme will focus on the current situation of indigenous languages around the world, aiming to highlight the critical need to revitalize, preserve and promote indigenous languages to safeguard the life of indigenous cultures for future generations.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/08/international-day-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2019/feed/0VIDEO: World Day against Trafficking in Personshttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/world-day-trafficking-persons/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=world-day-trafficking-persons
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/world-day-trafficking-persons/#respondThu, 25 Jul 2019 17:38:07 +0000IPS World Deskhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162574The darkest underbelly of human existence hides right in front of us – modern day slaves are the foundation of the third largest criminal economy on the planet. As media consumption in the West is drawn to negative, sensational and explosive headlines, sinister realities escape our attention. This applies to reporting on human trafficking in […]

The darkest underbelly of human existence hides right in front of us – modern day slaves are the foundation of the third largest criminal economy on the planet.

As media consumption in the West is drawn to negative, sensational and explosive headlines, sinister realities escape our attention. This applies to reporting on human trafficking in the developing world, where stories center around organ trafficking, sweat shops and the sex industry.

The International Labour Organization estimates that 21 million men, women and children are enslaved and trafficked around the world today. Close to 70% of these people are exploited in industrial sectors like mining, construction, agriculture and domestic work, creating profits of $150 Billion annually.

3.7 million people are victims of of forced labour in Africa, but the Asia-Pacific region accounts for the largest number of modern day slaves in the world, at 11.7 million people.

In a digitally desensitized society, we fail to comprehend the scale of a problem that exists in plain sight.

According to the U.S. State Department, “human trafficking can be found in a favourite restaurant, a hotel, downtown, a farm, or in [a] neighbour’s home.”

In the United Kingdom, an estimated 136,000 people are exploited with poor wages and atrocious living conditions. The National Crime Agency finds victims predominantly from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, working in car washes, construction, farming and food processing. Disturbingly, it suggests that someone going about their normal day in the UK will come across a victim of human trafficking but will never recognize them as such.

A 2018 report by the Global Slavery Index found that almost half a million (403,000) people are trapped in modern day slavery in the United States – seven times more than previously reported. The index also highlights forced marriages, noting that women and girls make up 71% of people trapped in modern-day slavery today.

The persistence of this tragedy is at the root of its being addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The Global Sustainability Network, an international consortium that works closely with the Vatican and Church of England, is one of many organizations attempting to bring a seismic shift in awareness and a willingness to act to save human dignity.

With individuals, educators, charity institutions, businesses and Governments each taking incremental steps towards realizing The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, it will be possible to curb this nefarious business.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/world-day-trafficking-persons/feed/0Floods Havoc in North Bangladeshhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/floods-havoc-north-bangladesh/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=floods-havoc-north-bangladesh
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/floods-havoc-north-bangladesh/#respondTue, 23 Jul 2019 20:29:52 +0000Syed Neaz Ahmadhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162533Floods are quite common in Bangladesh – blame it on climate change, the control and discharge of river waters at source or poor disaster management. The damage to property to livestock is colossal. These pictures sent by Dewanganj (Jamalpur) based journalist Tarek Mahmud explain it all. Some of the government offices, schools, hospitals and large […]

Floods are quite common in Bangladesh – blame it on climate change, the control and discharge of river waters at source or poor disaster management. The damage to property to livestock is colossal.

These pictures sent by Dewanganj (Jamalpur) based journalist Tarek Mahmud explain it all. Some of the government offices, schools, hospitals and large areas of farm land are under water. The damage to property & chattel is estimated to be in millions of Taka (Bangladesh currency). Rehabilitation of these displaced people will take months.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/floods-havoc-north-bangladesh/feed/0The Long Struggle Against the Stigma Surrounding Hansen’s Diseasehttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/long-struggle-stigma-surrounding-hansens-disease/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=long-struggle-stigma-surrounding-hansens-disease
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/long-struggle-stigma-surrounding-hansens-disease/#respondTue, 16 Jul 2019 18:03:15 +0000Mario Osavahttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162487At the age of 80, Yohei Sasakawa continues to travel around the world to promote solutions for some of the challenges facing humanity, such as Hansen’s Disease or leprosy, wars and disabilities, factors of stigma and exclusion. Engaging in dialogue with world leaders and with those affected by Hansen’s Disease, who are generally poor, is […]

At the age of 80, Yohei Sasakawa continues to travel around the world to promote solutions for some of the challenges facing humanity, such as Hansen’s Disease or leprosy, wars and disabilities, factors of stigma and exclusion.

Engaging in dialogue with world leaders and with those affected by Hansen’s Disease, who are generally poor, is his way of mobilising local efforts, with the financial and technical support offered by the 23 organisations that network with the Nippon Foundation, whose board of directors has been chaired by Sasakawa since 2005, after his 17 years as executive president.

Social innovation is the declared mission of the Foundation, created in 1962 as a private, not-for-profit entity based in Tokyo.

Since 2001, Sasakawa has been a World Health Organisation (WHO) goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination.

Since 2013, he has also served as the Japanese government’s special envoy for National Reconciliation in Myanmar (Burma), reflecting the diversity of his activism, which ranges from protecting the oceans to assisting the disabled and vulnerable children.

For more than 40 years, he has devoted much of his work to combating Hansen’s Disease and its associated ills, such as prejudice, stigma and discrimination, which persist despite the fact that this infectious disease is known to be completely curable and stops spreading once treatment begins.

As part of his work against leprosy, Sasakawa was in Brazil Jul. 1-11, where he met with political and health authorities in the northern states of Pará and Maranhão, two of the states with the highest incidence of leprosy, a medical term banned in the country and replaced by Hanseniasis.

Later, in Brasilia, Sasakawa met with President Jair Bolsonaro and his health and human rights ministers. They agreed to hold a national meeting in 2020 on Hansen’s Disease in Brazil, the country with the second highest number of new cases in the world, with 26,875 in 2017, second only to India with 126,164 cases, according to WHO data.

Sasakawa is particularly concerned about the problems of discrimination and inequality, and not just the disease, he says in this interview with IPS.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/long-struggle-stigma-surrounding-hansens-disease/feed/0Early Detection is the Solution for Hansen’s Diseasehttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/early-detection-solution-hansens-disease/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=early-detection-solution-hansens-disease
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/early-detection-solution-hansens-disease/#respondMon, 15 Jul 2019 13:32:54 +0000Mario Osavahttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162482On Jun. 27, Faustino Pinto was in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spoke to people at the United Nations about the fight against Hansen’s Disease and the stigma surrounding it, at a meeting during the 41st session of the Human Rights Council. Eleven days later, in Brasilia, he discussed the question with President Jair Bolsonaro, when […]

Faustino Pinto, national coordinator of the Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis (Morhan)

By Mario OsavaBRASILIA, Jul 15 2019 (IPS)

On Jun. 27, Faustino Pinto was in Geneva, Switzerland, where he spoke to people at the United Nations about the fight against Hansen’s Disease and the stigma surrounding it, at a meeting during the 41st session of the Human Rights Council.

Eleven days later, in Brasilia, he discussed the question with President Jair Bolsonaro, when he took part in a meeting along with Yohei Sasakawa, president of the Nippon Foundation and World Health Organisation goodwill ambassador for leprosy elimination, who visited Brazil Jul. 1-10.

Pinto was able to present his views, as national coordinator of the Movement for the Reintegration of People Affected by Hanseniasis (Morhan), in all the meetings Sasakawa held with ministers, legislators and health and human rights officials in the Brazilian capital.

The aim was to intensify action at a national level to eliminate the infectious disease as well as the discrimination suffered by current and former patients.

Abolishing the term leprosy to refer to the disease caused by the Mycobacterium leprae bacillus is a central focus of Pinto, who sees it as necessary given the burden of prejudice that the word has accumulated over centuries, which is even reflected in sections of the Bible.

Another great difficulty, he said, is the lack of knowledge about the disease among the public, which hinders early detection, needed to prevent permanent damage in patients, such as damage to the peripheral nervous system that can even cause disabilities.

Pinto felt the first symptoms of the disease at the age of nine and suffered for another nine years until he was diagnosed with Hanseniasis. Because of the delay, the five years of treatment he later received could not prevent some permanent damage, especially noticeable in his hands, which are partially paralysed.

He emphasises the need for early diagnosis in order to achieve a true cure for patients and ultimately eliminate the disease. At the age of 48 he became an activist who is known even at an international level, as he combats Hansen’s Disease which mainly affects the poor.

In Brazil there are almost 30,000 new cases per year, a figure surpassed only by India.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/early-detection-solution-hansens-disease/feed/0Indigenous Communities Head Towards Energy Self-Sufficiency in Guatemalahttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/indigenous-communities-head-towards-energy-self-sufficiency-in-guatemala/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=indigenous-communities-head-towards-energy-self-sufficiency-in-guatemala
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/indigenous-communities-head-towards-energy-self-sufficiency-in-guatemala/#respondWed, 03 Jul 2019 22:12:32 +0000Edgardo Ayalahttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162278Because the government has never provided them with electricity, indigenous communities in the mountains of northwest Guatemala had no choice but to generate their own energy. Now electricity lights up their nights and, most importantly, fuels small businesses that provide extra income to some of the 1,000 families who benefit from the community energy projects. […]

Because the government has never provided them with electricity, indigenous communities in the mountains of northwest Guatemala had no choice but to generate their own energy.

Now electricity lights up their nights and, most importantly, fuels small businesses that provide extra income to some of the 1,000 families who benefit from the community energy projects.

These community projects have been implemented in four indigenous villages located in the Zona Reina eco-region, in Uspantán municipality in the northwestern department of Quiché.

The miracle of having light initially occurred more than 10 years ago in 31 de Mayo, a Maya indigenous village.

Thanks to financial cooperation from organisations in Spain and Norway, the hard work of the community and support from the environmental group MadreSelva, the first mini-hydroelectric plant began to operate there, harnessing the waters of the Putul River.

Given the success of the first community hydropower plant, other villages also decided to generate their own electric power: El Lirio, in May 2015; La Taña, in September 2016; and La Gloria, in November 2017.

And these four villages share their electricity with five neighbouring communities.

Life has changed today in these villages, local resident Zaiada Gamarro told IPS. She stressed the importance of electricity for women, who can now cook and perform other household tasks at night, for children, who can now do their homework after dark, and for businesses like small bakeries or shops that can now sell refrigerated products.

A similar plan is under way to build mini-dams in eight other indigenous villages in the neighbouring region of Los Copones. They will also share their electricity with 11 communities in the surrounding area, in a project for which the German development aid agency has contributed 1.25 million dollars.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/07/indigenous-communities-head-towards-energy-self-sufficiency-in-guatemala/feed/0World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – “Let’s Grow the Future Together”http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/world-day-combat-desertification-drought-lets-grow-future-together/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=world-day-combat-desertification-drought-lets-grow-future-together
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/world-day-combat-desertification-drought-lets-grow-future-together/#respondMon, 17 Jun 2019 09:21:00 +0000IPS World Deskhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=162033One third of the planet’s land surface is under the threat of desertification, impacting over 250 million people. Although Africa remains the most affected continent, we are witnessing an alarming shift globally: 30% of the United States for example is affected by desertification, one quarter of the land in Latin America and the Caribbean is […]

One third of the planet’s land surface is under the threat of desertification, impacting over 250 million people.

Although Africa remains the most affected continent, we are witnessing an alarming shift globally: 30% of the United States for example is affected by desertification, one quarter of the land in Latin America and the Caribbean is now arid, and one fifth of Spanish land is at risk of turning into deserts.

Since the 1950s sand drifts and expanding deserts have taken a toll of nearly 700,000 hectares of cultivated land, 2.35 million hectares of rangeland, 6.4 million hectares of forests, woodlands and shrublands.

Worldwide, 70% of dryland used for agriculture are already degrading and are increasingly threatened by desertification.

This change is often at the root of political and socio-economic problems, and poses a threat to the environmental equilibrium in affected regions. 135 million people are at risk of being displaced because of desertification and mass migrations are only just beginning.

For example, close to one million Mexicans leave their rural drylands every year to find better lives in the United States. 60 million people are expected to move from Sub-Saharan Africa towards Northern Africa and Europe in the next 20 years.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought has been observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to the international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Under the theme “Let’s grow the future together” this event provides an opportunity to look back and celebrate the 25 years of progress made by countries on sustainable land management, as well as looking at the broad picture of the next 25 years when hopefully we will achieve land degradation neutrality.

]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/06/world-day-combat-desertification-drought-lets-grow-future-together/feed/0The Ethiopian City Lost in the Shadow of South Sudan’s Warhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/05/ethiopian-city-lost-shadow-south-sudans-war/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ethiopian-city-lost-shadow-south-sudans-war
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/05/ethiopian-city-lost-shadow-south-sudans-war/#commentsMon, 06 May 2019 13:26:03 +0000James Jeffreyhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=161495Right up against the border with South Sudan, the western Gambella region of Ethiopia has become a watchword for trouble and no-go areas as its neighbour’s troubles have spilled over. But now there may be reason for optimism on either side of the border.

When war broke out in 2013 in South Sudan, refugees poured into neighbouring Gambella. Today, 485,000 South Sudanese refugees lived in the Gambella region, according to UNHCR, the United Nations refugee organisation. Some displaced Nuer brought arms across the border, destabilising an already tense region. “The fact that the Nuer and Anuwak exist on both sides of the border makes it easy for people of both communities to pass backwards and forwards, taking with them their conflicts both between the two tribes but also at the national level,” says John Ashworth, who has been working in South Sudan and the surrounding region for the last 30 years. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

By James JeffreyGAMBELLA, Ethiopia, May 6 2019 (IPS)

Right up against the border with South Sudan, the western Gambella region of Ethiopia has become a watchword for trouble and no-go areas as its neighbour’s troubles have spilled over. But now there may be reason for optimism on either side of the border.

The brown waters of the Baro River meandering through the Ethiopian city of Gambella—from which the surrounding region takes its name—coupled with an atmosphere of tropical languor creates an almost cliched archetype of the Western idea of an African river port. Except for the fact that there is not a single boat on the river. The 2013 outbreak of civil war in South Sudan, whose border lies 50 kilometres from the city, put an end to the thriving trade that once plied this waterway between Gambella and Juba, the South Sudanese capital. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

It is hard to visit Gambella and not be struck by the height of many locals, some with horizontal scarification lines across their foreheads. The Nuer are one of five ethnic groups populating the region. Close ties and tensions between the Nuer and Anuwak, the two largest ethnic groups, representing about 45 percent and 26 percent of the population, respectively, date back centuries. The modern border between the two nations does not delineate where either group lives nor is movement across the South Sudan-Ethiopia border a new phenomenon. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

When war broke out in 2013 in South Sudan, refugees poured into neighbouring Gambella. Today, 485,000 South Sudanese refugees lived in the Gambella region, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN refugee organisation. Some displaced Nuer brought arms across the border, destabilising an already tense region. “The fact that the Nuer and Anuwak exist on both sides of the border makes it easy for people of both communities to pass backwards and forwards, taking with them their conflicts both between the two tribes but also at the national level,” says John Ashworth, who has been working in South Sudan and the surrounding region for the last 30 years. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

This is the closest you will come to finding a boat in Gambella nowadays. “The river used to be full of boats and trade before 2013 and the war broke out,” one Gambella local says of the Baro River and its tributaries flowing across the border. Nowadays the most urgent traffic around the city comes from the plethora of white SUVs, plastered with the logos of almost every NGO to be found in Ethiopia. Some locals are employed by NGOs as drivers and translators, but the vast majority of locals struggling to get by see little of the money generated by Ethiopia’s refugee industry. In 2018 the budget required for Ethiopia’s total refugee population—around 900,000 people—was estimated at 618 million dollars. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Gambella city has an intriguing modern history, in which the Baro River plays a crucial part. In the late 19th century, Britain came knocking, seeing the Baro’s navigable reach to Khartoum as an excellent highway for exporting coffee and other produce to Sudan and Egypt. The Ethiopian emperor granted Britain the use of land for a port and Gambella was established in 1907. Only a few hundred hectares in size, this tiny British territory became a prosperous trade centre as ships from Khartoum sailed regularly during the rainy season when the water was high. The Italians captured Gambella in 1936 but it was back with the British after a bloody battle in 1941. Gambella became part of Sudan in 1951, but was reincorporated into Ethiopia five years later. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Here a woman sells fish in a small market. Everyday life appears slow and peaceful. But the Gambella region has gained a reputation as a no-go area among foreigners and Ethiopians alike. Back in 1962, the first of several civil wars broke out next door in Sudan at the start of a 50-year quest for South Sudanese independence, and from which Gambella could not remain immune. The stigma attached to the region hasn’t been helped by the Ethiopian government’ tendency to take a dismissive view of the region, underscored by a prejudice—one that extends throughout Ethiopian society—that the blacker one is the less Ethiopia you are, says Dereje Feyissa, a senior advisor at the Addis Ababa-based International Law and Policy Institute. “The Ethiopian centre has always related to its periphery in a predatory way,” Dereje says. “This is not only because of the geographic distance but also the historical, social and cultural differences which the discourse on skin colour signifies.” Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Local men carrying wrapped-up dried fish on their heads walk through an Anuwak village. The Gambella region is something of an anomaly in Ethiopia, displaying stronger historical, ethnic and climatic links to neighbouring South Sudan. “This was not the Ethiopia of cool highlands and white flowing traditional dress, but Nilotic Africa, in the blazing southwestern lowlands near the Sudanese border,” recalls Steve Buff, a former Peace Corps Volunteer. “This was much closer to our childhood National Geographic images of Africa than any place we’d seen before in Ethiopia.” Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

Since the latest peace agreement between South Sudan’s warring factions late last year, the indications seem more promising than with previous peace agreements that fell apart. By December 2018, the security situation in South Sudan had significantly improved, stated Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of United Nations Peacekeeping. And by February this year, David Shearer, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, told reporters in New York that political violence has “dropped dramatically.” Shearer added that the success of the peace agreement will be partly measured by the extent to which people return to home towns and villages. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

This year the UNHCR has reported spontaneous movements of South Sudanese refugees from various Gambella-based camps heading toward South Sudan, an estimated 5,000 since mid-December. Perhaps a good sign of what Shearer discussed? Interviews with the refugees, however, indicated they were returning to South Sudan for fear of retaliatory action following clan-based conflicts in camps, while some said they were going to visit their families, and would eventually return to the camps in Gambella. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

“This time it is different, as the international community is involved,” a South Sudanese refugee in Gambella remarked while reading Facebook posts on his smartphone about the latest peace deal. At the same time, the time it has taken to overcome the animosity of the past and get to the current stage of the peace process suggests there will be South Sudanese refugees in Gambella for some time yet. Meanwhile, the Baro River will flow on undisturbed by river traffic through a land of limbo caught up in the surrounding troubles, its seemingly placid surface deceiving to the eye. “There are plenty of crocodiles, though you won’t see them as the water is high,” a local man says. Credit: James Jeffrey/IPS

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]]>http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/05/ethiopian-city-lost-shadow-south-sudans-war/feed/2VIDEO: World Press Freedom Day 2019 – Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformationhttp://www.ipsnews.net/2019/04/video-world-press-freedom-day-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=video-world-press-freedom-day-2019
http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/04/video-world-press-freedom-day-2019/#respondMon, 29 Apr 2019 21:09:56 +0000IPS World Deskhttp://www.ipsnews.net/?p=161375Journalists and media outlets worldwide have recently been subject to a subtle wave of vilification. Populist rhetoric and public indifference have begun to threaten the very foundation of our freedom. Journalists provide the checks and balances fundamental to all democracies, by highlighting government failures or reporting on societal injustice. But the tone of leadership today […]

Journalists and media outlets worldwide have recently been subject to a subtle wave of vilification. Populist rhetoric and public indifference have begun to threaten the very foundation of our freedom.

Journalists provide the checks and balances fundamental to all democracies, by highlighting government failures or reporting on societal injustice.

But the tone of leadership today has shifted: denunciation of the media as “biased,” and the factual information they report as “fake news,” is forcing citizens into confusion and misinformation.

This tactic has given authorities the opening to dictate their own narrative and divert attention from corruption and other abuses.

As recently as six months ago, the National Broadcasting Council in Poland fined a leading television station half a million dollars “for promoting illegal activities.” This was after the network’s coverage of anti-government protests.

In Hungary, the ruling Fidesz party has taken matters further: they have consolidated control over private media outlets in the hands of government allies. This has effectively quashed critical reporting and media independence.

In the United States, we have seen a disturbing pattern of authorities disparaging journalists when factually challenged about their narratives. Here, their disdain for ordinary media scrutiny is self- evident – and the repercussions are only just beginning to emerge.

Accordingly, this year’s World Press Freedom Day events in Addis Ababa are of critical importance to the global community of journalists.

The theme of this year’s celebration is apt: Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation.”

It is focused on illuminating current challenges faced by media in elections, along with media’s potential in supporting peace and reconciliation processes. Furthermore, the UNESCO driven events will also examine the safety of journalists and how to combat disinformation.